Synonym Game

dour

[door, douuhr, dou-er] Origin

dour

[door, douuhr, dou-er]
adjective
1.
sullen; gloomy: The captain's dour look depressed us all.
2.
severe; stern: His dour criticism made us regret having undertaken the job.
3.
Scot. (of land) barren; rocky, infertile, or otherwise difficult or impossible to cultivate.

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English < Latin dūrus dure1

dour·ly, adverb
dour·ness, noun


1. morose, sour, moody. See glum.

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Dour is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Collins
World English Dictionary
dour (dʊə, ˈdaʊə)
 
adj
1.  sullen
2.  hard or obstinate
 
[C14: probably from Latin dūrus hard]
 
'dourly
 
adv
 
'dourness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Main Entry:  dour1
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  extremely serious and stern; forbidding
Etymology:  Latin durus 'hard'
Main Entry:  dour2
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  gloomy, sullen
Etymology:  Latin durus 'hard'
Main Entry:  dour3
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  stubborn and obstinate
Etymology:  Latin durus 'hard'
Main Entry:  dour4
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  bleak and gloomy
Etymology:  Latin durus 'hard'
Usage:  meteorology
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

dour
late 14c., "severe," from Scottish and northern England dialect, probably from L. durus "hard" (see endure); sense of "gloomy" is late 15c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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